Nothing is more frustrating than sending out a survey and not getting the submissions you need. Surveys can unlock the answers to many common business questions and uncover the likes, dislikes, and needs of your customers. But if common survey mistakes are killing your survey conversion rate, you’ll never get access to these important insights.
Here are 5 common mistakes that might be killing your survey conversions. Don’t worry though—they’re all simple to fix!
1. The survey doesn’t look good on a phone.
If your survey isn’t mobile responsive, you’re going to continue seeing low survey conversion rates. 77% of Americans own a smartphone, so it’s likely that a large majority of your audience will be using a phone to submit your survey. If you’re sending your survey invite through an email, the probability of submitting from mobile skyrockets, considering 59% of email opens occur on mobile.
The easiest way to fix this mistake is to find survey software that is mobile-responsive. This ensures your survey looks fantastic when viewed on a computer, tablet, and phone. The best survey apps will make all of your surveys mobile-friendly without any extra steps, coding, or design. If it’s time to find new survey software, here are some important features to look for to ensure your surveys get submissions.
2. The same audience is being asked to take surveys over, and over, and over again.
Nobody likes to be nagged. The same goes for your survey audience. If you’re asking the same audience to take multiple surveys in a short period of time, you’re exhausting your audience. This is referred to as survey fatigue. It’s best to aim for one survey every two to three months.
There are a few cases where you can send multiple surveys to the same audience without worrying about survey fatigue. These include:
- Feedback surveys for a recurring events
- Surveys about recent purchases
- Research projects that include multiple surveys over time
- Health assessments that need to be taken multiple times over a set time period
- Pre and post event surveys
Pro Tip: Identifying and understanding the goals of your survey is key to picking the right audience for your survey.
3. You didn’t give a compelling reason to take the survey.
People are receiving survey invitations in their inbox left and right. Why should they click on yours instead of one of the hundreds of others they received recently? You’ve got to give your audience a compelling reason to take your survey.
Offering an incentive—in the form of money, swag, gift cards, or product samples—is recognized by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) as a valuable tool for encouraging people to respond to surveys. Choose to either offer a small incentive to anyone who takes the survey, or enter survey takers into a drawing for a larger prize.
Read Next: How to Write Survey Questions People Will Actually Answer
4. People are overwhelmed by the amount of questions on one page.
Whether your audience is viewing your survey from a computer, tablet, or phone, endless scrolling will make most people abandon your survey before hitting submit. Minimize this survey conversion threat by limiting the amount of questions you include on each page. Try adding a page break after every 4-5 questions to eliminate the need for constant computer scrolling.
5. You’re sending the survey out too late.
Timeliness is everything in the age of instant gratification. If you’re sending out a survey related to customer service, an event, or experience, it’s important to send out your survey as soon as possible. It’s best to send these types of surveys within hours or days of the survey trigger happening. You need to capture your audience while their mind is still on the survey topic, otherwise they’re unlikely to even open your survey.
Don’t forget to consider timing. If your event goes late into the night, it makes sense to send your survey the next day instead of at 10 p.m. If your survey is being sent to mostly work email addresses, it’s smarter to send earlier in the week versus a Friday. It’s also best to avoid launching a survey on or around a holiday, unless it is related to the holiday.
You’re bound to start seeing higher survey conversion rates when you implement some of the above tips. Think about all of the data you’ll be able to gather once you make a few simple changes. Now go forth and get those survey submissions!
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